Unit 5:Plate Tectonics

Front

Continental drift theory

Back

The idea that Earth's continents were once joined together in a single landmass called Pangaea and have slowly moved to their current places over time.

Front

Convergent boundaries

Back

Places where two tectonic plates push into each other, often creating mountains, earthquakes, or areas where one plate slides below the other.

Front

Divergent boundaries

Back

Places where tectonic plates move apart, allowing magma to rise and create new crust, like in mid-ocean ridges.

Front

Fossil

Back

Remains or traces of plants and animals from the past, often found in rocks, showing us what life and environments were like long ago.

Front

Plate tectonics

Back

The theory that Earth’s crust is broken into large plates that move over the softer layer below, causing earthquakes and other geological activity.

Front

Superposition (law of)

Back

The rule in geology that in layers of rock, the oldest layers are on the bottom and the youngest are on the top, if they haven’t been disturbed.

Front

Transform boundaries

Back

Places where two tectonic plates slide past each other, often causing earthquakes, like along California's San Andreas Fault.

Front

Alfred Wegener

Back

A scientist who first suggested that continents were once joined together and have drifted apart over time.

Front

Asthenosphere

Back

A soft, flowing layer of rock under the lithosphere that tectonic plates move on top of.

Front

Continental plate

Back

A tectonic plate that carries mostly land, which is thicker and lighter than plates under the ocean.